Galaxy Buds+ to offer Game Mode for lower latency; extra microphone for improved call quality, more

Samsung is set to unveil its next-gen TWS earbuds, the Galaxy Buds+, next week alongside the Galaxy S20 phones at the Galaxy Unpacked event. The Galaxy Buds+ will be a refresh of the Galaxy Buds and will bring a few major improvements.

One major weakness of wireless audio equipment is latency. It's a bit hard to completely eliminate that, considering the nature of the technology itself. The most that can be done is to reduce it, and that's exactly what Samsung will be doing with the Galaxy Buds+.

According to Max Weinbach of XDA-Developers, the Galaxy Buds+ will have a dedicated game mode for lower latency. It makes sense, seeing as gaming is the use case where latency is felt the most—online first-person shooters, in particular. We're not sure how exactly Samsung plans on effecting the game mode but if it allows CoD:M players to finally not get sneaked upon, it's a win.

The Galaxy Buds+ will also add another microphone to the mix. One major complaint Galaxy Buds owners have is the poor mic for calls, with the earbuds reportedly being poor for calls outdoors. Samsung will attempt to fix that by adding another outer microphone, for a total of three mics on the earbud.

The Galaxy Buds+ will also feature bigger batteries, better battery life, and faster charging. Compared to the Galaxy Buds, battery capacity will jump from 58 mAh to 85 mAh and battery life will go from six hours to eleven hours.

Other improvements include better audio output due to the addition of an extra driver, Spotify integration, and simultaneous pairing. The Galaxy Buds+ are expected to cost US$149.

Galaxy Buds on sale now at Amazon